With the end of House of the Dragon season one, I am in a dragony mood…
The Flame-Dragons of Krypton were an invention of Bill Finger‘s in 1952. Finger only wrote the one story but later writers, Jerry Siegel, Superman’s creator, as well as Science Fiction Pulpster, Edmond Hamilton and Robert Bernstein (more often associated with the Aquaman franchise) had a go, too. These creatures were native to the planet Krypton before its destruction. They are usually depicted as green with purple chest and wings. Hamilton went his own way and made them pure white, creating a new origin for them.
There are two Superman vs Dragon stories I have not included here, “The Dragon From King Arthur’s Court” (Superman #86, January 1954) and “Where the Space-Winds Blow” (Action Comics #519, May 1981, because these are not actual Kryptonian Flame-Dragons but other dragon-like creatures.The first is an actual mythological dragon and the second a different alien hunted by an Ahab-like space being.
Beast From Krypton
“The Beast From Krypton” (Superman #78, September-October 1952) was written by Bill Finger.
Kryptonian scientists, before the planet’s destruction, create a longevity serum. They don’t know what side effects it will have so they use a snagriff, a dinosaur-like creature, for a test subject. (No mice, I guess.) The snagriff’s hide turns to metal and the beast has an unending hunger to eat metallic ore. The scientists lure the creature onto a catapult after it escapes, and hurl it into space. Years later, after Krypton explodes, the monster hitches a ride on the moon Koron, which is flung outward. Finally, the moon passes the Earth…
Superman rescues some boaters from the snagriff’s attack. He tries to encase it in molten sand but the creature enjoys eating that. The military attack but the snagriff eats their tank. Things get really hairy when the beast eats atomic bombs from the arsenal then snacks on the U. S. gold reserve. Sup wins the day when he uses his cape to enfold the beast and hurl it back into space. As Clark Kent he comments: “It was poetic justice…that a strange material from Krypton should save us from the even stranger beast from Krypton!”
The plot of this comic is essentially a kaiju monster film but the first of these, Godzilla, won’t appear for two more years. It is hard to say what inspired Bill Finger but the movie Lost Continent, with its dinosaurs came out in 1951.
Flame-Dragon of Krypton Returns
“Flame-Dragon From Krypton” (Superman #142, January 1961) was written by Jerry Siegel.
Attending a science conference, Lois and Clark met up with the Flame-Dragon of Krypton. The snagriff burns off Clark’s clothes, revealing he is Superman. Sup decides to deal with the monster first but it has eaten an asteroid made of red kryptonite.
The dragon chases Superman. Counterfeiters grab Lois Lane. When Superman shows up the crooks extract a deal from the Man of Steel, not to touch their fake bills. Superman agrees, but he has an ace up his sleeve. The Flame-Dragon burns all the money. The dragon is headed for the oil fields and Superman must act fast to prevent a terrible explosion. He freezes the beast with his breath, putting it into suspended animation. The monster is taken back into space. (Like many superhero stories, the reader has to think, “Why didn’t Superman just freeze him at the beginning?”)
Superman disproves Clark Kent is Superman by using a robot that looks like him. Batman and Super-Girl help out. The idea of Superman losing his secret identity will come up again in the next dragon tale.
Super-Creature of Krypton
“Superman’s Greatest Secret” (Superman #151, February 1962) was written by Jerry Siegel.
A Flame-Dragon appears and attacks the Earth. Superman finds a gigantic shell. This is a new creature. He also finds that its bite can penetrate his super-skin.
Superman takes the beast through the time barrier, back to the Age of Dinosaurs, where it will be happiest. Lois Lane plans to look at Clark Kent’s hand, which should bear the bite marks. She suspects that when he sees him he is a robot and not the real Clark. (Lois knows a lot about Superman by this time.) She examines his hand and proves it is not a robot. Superman explains to the reader that after he got back from the past he went to his Fortress of Solitude, where the miniature city Kandor rests, shrunk himself and had Nim-Zee heal it with a ray. Sorry, Lois, you won’t unmask Superman today!
The Flame-Dragon is only in the first half of this tale. Later on we will see it play an even smaller part. The miniature city of Kandor will show up again.
A Small Part
“The New Superman” (Action Comics #291, August 1962) was written by Robert Bernstein.
The plot of this story mostly concerns some thugs who shoot Superman with Kryptonite bullets. To survive he has his robots place him in a rocket and send him through the time barrier. Once back in the past, the Flame-dragon from the previous story, melts the aluminum of the ship, saving Superman from its kryptonite properties. The dragon only appears in two frames. The story refers back to several other stories including Lex Luthor’s kryptonite gun, the miniature city Kandor and the Flame-Dragon. Bernstein has many stock pieces he can use to create a new tale.
The White Dragon
“The Dynamic Duo of Kandor” (Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #69, June 1963) was written by Edmond Hamilton.
This long two-parter only brings in the Flame-Dragons in the second half. Jimmy and Superman go to Kandor when they see two Kandorian birds lose in the outer world. In Kandor, Superman contracts Scarlet Jungle Fever. In the miniature city, Superman is not invulnerable like he is normally. It is up to Jimmy Olsen, as Flamebird, to investigate alone. (Remember this is Jimmy’s comic.) Using the telepathic dog, Nighthound, Jimmy goes in search of the men who lured them to Kandor. He goes to the zoo, where he finds a white Flame-Dragon. Hamilton gives us a new backstory for the creature in a flashback. No Snagriff this time. The creatures were around in the old days of Krypton, where they were sacred and adored.
We learn the history of Dakar-Ra, who rode one of the dragons to warn the people of Krypton of invaders. Superman recovers from the fever thanks to Nor Kann and Kandorian medicine. Donning a different costume, he joins Jimmy in the search for the villain who lured them to the miniature city. Jimmy realizes this wasn’t done to hurt him but Superman.
The two heroes take the white dragon for their steed and soon unravel who the fake Superman is. Nor Kann! But it isn’t! It is an android of the scientist. The Superman Revenge Squad is to blame. The Flame-Dragon is mostly used as a steed and little else. Hamilton does a lot of work setting the beast up to not really use it.
Conclusion
The Flame-Dragons of Krypton began as a large threat that became even worse when consuming red kryponite. They fade into a background element that later writers can pepper their stories with but never really drive the plot after the second tale. I think Bill Finger began from the desire to have Superman fighting a dragon on the cover of the comic. These kind of dramatic episodes make great eye-grabbing covers to lure dimes from kids. As the Superman universe expanded, these ideas were re-used on occasion but become part of the background. The later stories did not receive dragon covers, having become familiar. Even the longish “The Dynamic Duo of Kandor” focused on the hero team rather than the white dragon.
